Curiosity x And x The x Cat
by SuperFictionR5
Summary: AU. The eleven-year old Neferpitou stumbles upon a Hunter License, deep in the forests of the NGL. Desperate to see the world in it's fullest, possible extent, she vows to take the Hunter Exam for herself. She makes some friends, goes on daring adventures, and starts to rethink her forced upon opinion on humans. Though, despite her heritage, she takes a liking to two certain boys.
1. Curiosity x And x The x Cat

**Yo! SFR5 here! This 'fic idea has been on my mind for a while now, and I thought it was about time I write this while I get through my writers block for my other story. (Or laziness, I dunno.) I hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

"Hunter... License?"

A humanoid figure stares curiously unto the back contents of a card which showed what it was, and how valuable it is. She gives an interested 'Ahhh' as she finishes reading it. Two other figures peek through the shoulder of her, wanting to see for themselves.

The blonde with two antennae sticking out of his head places his hand onto his chin, deep in thought. "I've heard of these... Hunters. Mother ate one of them a couple of months back, and she did find him particularly tasty." He informed his older sister. She places her head onto her hand,

"Nyaa~ I wonder why?" She looks back at the license in her other hand before continuing, "It says here that Hunters have a specific goal they want to accomplish; something they hunt for."

Their mildly-muscled red brother grunted, "No kidding, Pitou. That's why they're called Hunters, and I'm pretty sure we're all smart enough to know that from the get-go."

"I wouldn't label you as the smart type, Youpi." Pitou sneered, and this served only to enrage him, in which she succeeded. They both growled at each other, threatening to start yet another silly fight, though they both were flicked on the forehead especially hard by their blonde brother.

"Enough fighting, you two. Pitou, throw the thing away and let's go back home." He prompted, spreading his small wings. Pitou only stuck her tongue out and held the license away from the two in it's defense. Pouf grimaced, and slapped his hand to his face.

"Won't you listen to my orders for once? I'm telling you to throw it away!" He growled, though Pitou only stuck out her tongue even harder.

She decided to explain her actions, "First of all, I'm older than you so I don't have to listen to your 'orders'." She motioned her two fingers from both hands like a speech mark for effect, "And secondly, I want to learn more about these Hunters, and it says I can travel 90% of the world, nya!"

"You're not... planning to explore the outside world by yourself, are you?" Pouf queried worriedly, the soft breeze of the forest within the NGL that they resided in blowing across his face and creating tension.

Pitou noticed the tension in the air and immediately shook her head, an awkward sweat drop rolling down the back of her head. "No, no. I never said I was going by myself... Maybe you two could come with me?" She asked with a stupid, hopeful smile on her face. Pouf couldn't comprehend what he was hearing right now, and simply stared at her for the time-being.

Youpi sighed and lazily waved his hands in disagreement, "Count me out..." He grumbled.

"Neferpitou!" Pouf addressed her fully, and Pitou looked at his younger brother in surprise. Normally when that happened, it meant she was going to get a serious mouthful. "You are acting so irrational right now! If you leave, you'll forsake your loyalties to the King! This honestly sickens me, and I very much hope this to be some foul joke!"

Pitou stuck two index fingers into both of her cat ears and traced over his lecture by singing a childish La~La~ tune. While Pouf kept on blabbering, Youpi sighed and tapped Pitou's shoulder in order to inform her of the consequences in a reasonable manner.

"Hey, Pitou. Whatever you're going to do, I doubt Mother will be happy. We're supposed to be the future royal gua-" Pitou shushed him by placing a finger to his lips to prevent him from speaking any further, and this surprised him. Though, when he realized he didn't get through to her, he softly groaned.

"The King isn't born yet, so I'm pretty sure I can do whatever I please. When he's born, I'll return immediately. Besides, I'm pretty sure this 'recon' mission will help us than not." She tried to persuade him into her style of thinking, but he wasn't going to budge.

"Whatever... Curiosity kills the cat anyway." Youpi turned around, ready to return home. He gave her one last pitiful frown, though quickly whipping his head back around.

Pitou grins and giggles, waving her little brother off. "Love ya' too!~, nya!"

Suddenly, hundreds of little miniature Shaiapouf's swarmed onto Pitou, tugging at her and trying to prevent her from leaving. They were all squeaking out something about her duties and the like. The clones didn't really affect her that much, and they only ever tickled her at best.

She giggled as the feeling tickled her, "Hey, hey! Your Beelzebub ability won't affect me! S-Stop it!" She hiccuped during laughter.

Pouf didn't like the way how she took the situation so lightly, and ceased his swarm attack. Multiple Pouf clones had their hands on their hips with a big frown on their faces.

"Listen to reason, dimwit. I will not let our chances of domination of the world diminish even by a percent, by your foolish actions." He forcefully took her hand, leading her home. "We're going back to base."

"Nyow I'm getting annoyed..." Neferpitou eyes narrowed as she released strong, furious, scary yet mysterious killer intent onto her brother. Though, if it were any other person, the intent could pass on as childish annoyance. They were mere kids after all, "Unhand me, Shaia." She warned, threatening to attack if need be. Pouf scowled before letting her go, mumbling about the stupidity of it all.

"You've no right to call yourself a Royal Guard," He scowled once more, "Just wait til' mother hears of this." Pouf said, spreading his colourful wings and taking off.

Pitou instantly returned to her normal, playful self and giggled, "I'm not a Royal Guard yet, nya!~" When he vanished out of sight, she breathed a sigh of relief.

 _'I've been wanting to search the outside world for a while now. I'm glad that I've found a catalyst to finally start my ambition.'_ Pitou spins the license in her hand, _'With this, I can make the most of my journey, nya!'_

A pregnant silence occurred after she said that, and she looked at the license with a frown.

 _'It does also say that the applicant finished the trial to get this card, the Hunter Exam. I do kinda feel bad treating myself with the product of someone's potential hard work. Maybe I should take it?'_

Pitou contemplated on taking the exam, and she reached her decision several seconds later. "Okay! I'll take the Hunter Exam!" She grinned, her vow to get out now set in stone.

She strengthened her thigh muscles and leapt to the direction of the outside, to the outside of the NGL.

* * *

The humanoid cat descended the elevator, stepping out and looked to be in some sort of tunnel. There were hundreds of applicants, and Pitou was awed at the sight of them all.

"So... many humans." She whispered to herself, looking at everyone in awe. A short little green man tapped her shoulder, and she squeaked in surprise, hoping the person... thing who just tapped her didn't hear her little muttering.

"Here is your tag! Don't lose it, and keep it on you at all times." He turned around and went away as I inspected the numbered tag I now had on my blue, buttoned overcoat.

"#99." She thought out loud, adjusting it a little. In her mind, she went back all the way to her strenuous journey that led her to the Exam site. From an old lady giving her a weird question, to the brother and sister with the weird yellow beast thing. She wiped the sweatdrop out of her temple, glad that it all worked out in the end.

"Ah, you must be a rookie!" A voice said from afar, and was currently walking towards her with two cans of juice.

"Nya?" She tilted her head, not knowing what business he had with her. "How d'ya know I was a rookie?"

The obese, box-nosed man chuckled awkardly, rubbing the back of his head. "About that... My name is Tonpa, and this is my 35th time taking the Hunter Exam. You could call me a veteran! I know every one here, and how many times they took the exam. Say, you must be thirsty." Tonpa assumed,

"Here, a drink to our new friendship!" He extended a hand to her which had a juice can inside it, and Pitou took it. She popped the can open, but she could've sworn she saw him with an evil glint in his eye. Noticing this, she sniffed the innards of the can before giving a curious, innocent glare to him.

"You put poison on the drink. Why?" She was about to flare her ineffective killer intent onto him as a reminder not to mess with him, though Tonpa looked as if he was about to explain his action.

"P-Poison?" He fake-blinked before going into yet another awkward chuckle. "A-Ah... I'm sorry, the juice must've expired. I would never poison a sweet little girl like you..."

Pitou pouted, seeing through him easily, though she was about to correct him about labeling her a little girl, as while she was a child, she was not a girl. Pitou soon realized it would break her cover if she did so. Before she started her trip, she made sure to hide her ears within her hair, and to tuck her tail in her shorts. She used fake skin to hide her weird, bug-like knees too.

"Okay... Don't try any tricks on me again, though!" She warned, walking away. Her great hearing enabled her to hear him mumble something about her being a stupid little girl, though she didn't care much.

"Hey, Tonpa!" A slanted-eyed, spiky white haired kid waved to the man who had just tried to poison her a few seconds ago. "Could I have more of that juice? Must be my nerves. I'm really thirsty!"

Pitou frowned, her mouth hanging slightly open as she looked at him with pity. "Ehhh... Is he stupid or what, nya?" She turned away, not wanting to see such a unlucky, shameful death.

The walls rose, and the tunnel was now an actual tunnel. Pitou smirked, _'I'm so excited! This will be my first, real taste of the outside world!'_

Behind the wall was a tall man with a suit, purple hair and a weird mustache. His expression, however, kind of creeped Pitou out.

"Sorry for the wait." He apologized, "The entry period has ended. The Hunter Exam will now begin." Almost every applicant mustered up excitement in their own way, and Pitou being one of them with a huge beam on her face, eyes sparkling.

"A final caution, however." He continued, "If you are short on luck, ability or any of the sort, you may end up injured, or worse, dead. If you accept the risks, follow me. Otherwise, exit via the elevator behind you all."

There was a tense silence, though no-one seemed to give in. The man, realizing this, turned around. "Very well. All 404 applicants will participate in Phase One." He started to walk in a rather quick, brisk pace, prompting everyone to jog a bit.

 _'Endurance test?'_ Pitou considered, though she wasn't sure.

"I did not introduce myself." The examiner said calmly, "I am Satotz, The examiner of Phase One. I shall lead you to Phase Two."

Pitou ignored his introduction and stared at all the participants in awe. Each presumably had their own type of training and profession in preparation for these exams. However, a certain trio interested her. She couldn't get a general idea of the profession the one in green, in a suit, and the blonde-haired one.

"Second Phase?" Someone shouted from behind while some mumbled in confusion of his words. "What about Phase One?"

"It has already commenced." Satotz responded.

 _'So this isn't an endurance test. If it was, I'm sure he would've said so, nya.'_

"However, I cannot tell you when or where we will arrive."

Pitou blinked at the examiner curiously, wondering why. It wasn't like she could handle the distance, she probably and easily could, but it be comforting to know where the tunnel would end.

 **XVX**

Pitou yearned for a tasty treat to fill her slight hunger. It had been a few hours since the Phase had started, and the crowd that once had over 400 applicants had lessened in that amount of time.

"When will this end, nya...?" She asked particularly no-one. Shoving a hand into one of her pockets, she pulled out a fruity lolipop and began to suck on it with a big smile on her face.

The cat heard rolling come up beside her, and she looked to see who it was. It was the boy from before, the one who had stupidly drunk the juice which had laxatives inside, strong ones too. The boy was on a skateboard too which was odd considering how everyone else was running. He gave her an awkward look, though she wasn't sure if it was her face she was looking at, or the lolipop stick which stuck out from her lips.

"You're that boy from before. How did you survive the... poison, nya?" She whispered the last part out. His eyes instantly went away from her mouth and onto her eyes,

"Huh? Oh." He said nonchalantly, "I'm immune to poison." The boy stated. Pitou's eyes sparkled, curious to know how.

"That's cool!" The chimera ant shouted out loud, though quickly covering her mouth with both hands after noticing she attracted the attention of her fellow participants.

There was an awkward silence hanging in the air as they both ran or skated alongside each other. Pitou didn't want that to remain, so she dug in her pockets and smiled, offering him a lolipop.

"Hey, d'ya want a lolipop, hm?" She offered, and his eyes quickly zoomed in on the treat she was offering, and he snatched it from her hands. He shoved it in his mouth hungrily and gave her a smile,

"Thanks." He said, displaying his first emotion to her; gratitude. He rolled off in the direction to the front on his skateboard, though curious as Pitou always was, she ran off towards him and reduced the distance between them.

"I didn't catch your name, nya!" She asked, "My name is Neferpitou, but you can call me 'Pitou for short." She prompted, giving him a cat-like smile.

He looked at her before looking back towards the front, "My name's Killua." Though he started to sigh, "Though, if you want to talk more, I would like to go to the front."

Pitou simply nodded, "'Kay." The duo started to casually pass some people as they chewed on their lolipops, exchanging an occasional glance towards each others.

She decided to break the silence once more, "Say, Kil'." She pinned on a new nickname for him, "Why do you want to beco-"

"Hey!"

Pitou scrunched up her face as she was interrupted, and they both looked back to see the tall man in the blue suit.

"Is something wrong?" Pitou asked.

The man nodded at her, and pointed a finger towards him. "You should show the Hunter Exam some respect!"

Pitou was about to ask him to elaborate, though Killua beat him to the chase. "What do you mean?"

"Why the heck are you using a skateboard! That's cheating!" He exclaimed. Killua frowned, not getting him.

"Why?" He pressed on, and this only pissed him off even further.

" _Why?_ " He grudgingly parroted, "This is an endurance test!"

' _But it's not..._ ' She disagreed, folding her arms as she ran.

A voice piped up from behind the man, one that seemingly disagreed as well with that statement. "No, it isn't!" I looked harder, and saw the green-clad boy which she had recognized from before. His hair was unusually spiked, he had a fishing rod sticking out from his backpack, and his outfit kind of made Pitou giggle.

"Gon! What did you say?" He shouted back behind him, and Pitou grimaced. He reminded him a bit too much of Shaiapouf, her brother, and his constant need to prove he is right and his self-proclaimed spot of 'authority'.

"He only told us to follow him." He shot back with innocent eyes. That look was rather cute, she admitted.

The man only gave him a rude look, "Whose side are you on, eh?"

Killua slowed his skateboard down, and Pitou followed suit. The man didn't leave that much of a good impression on her, and she didn't want to be left up there with him.

"Hey, how old are you?" Killua asked Gon, curious to know.

"I'm twelve years old!" He replied happily.

 _'We're the same age...'_ Killua thought, slightly pleased that he was.

"How about you? How old are you?" He asked Pitou, and she waved at him with a toothy smile.

"I'm eleven years old!" She did feel a bit awkward though when she realized the innocent boy was older than she, as she could tell that he was possibly dense.

Killua looked at Gon before kicking up his skate board into the air, landing on the ground and catching his board casually. Both Pitou and Gon's eyes lit up in awe, thinking it to be the epitome of cool.

"That was cool!" Gon and Pitou said in unison, giggling at each other when they realized they did so.

"I'm Killua." He introduced himself to Gon.

"I'm Gon!" He chirped back cheerfully and then looked to Pitou. "What about you, girlie?"

"Me? I'm Neferpitou, though I insist you call me Pitou, nya!" She extended her hand towards Gon for a handshake, and he eagerly shook her hand.

There was silence for a few, though none of us felt awkward by it. It was then that Gon took an abrupt stop, looking at the man in the blue suit that was sweating rivers at the back. He panted and held his knees, locking eyes with Gon as he did so.

"Forget him, let's go!" Killua advised. Pitou traded glances between Gon and Killua repeatedly, waiting for someone to make a move. She sent Killua a glare, thinking it to be uncouth to let Gon's obvious friend to be left behind. He merely huffed and looked away, arms folded.

She pouted, _'He's rather self-centered.'_

Though she was startled out of her mind when the sudden shout of the man filled the trio's eardrums,

"I'M GONNA BECOME A HUNTER, DAMMIT!" He screamed, suddenly rocketing forward.

She put both her hands behind her head as she gave a toothy smile towards his direction that he ran, and Gon whipped out his fishing rod to reel in the suitcase that he forgotten.

Killua looked at Gon's fishing rod in interest, "Let me try that later."

"Only if you let me try your skateboard!"

"Deal." He said, finalizing their agreement. Though, she was a bit curious and wanting to try it out too,

"I wanna try out both of your stuff too!"

Gon smiled, not having a problem with that. "Sure!"

Killua put his hands on his pockets nonchalantly and shrugged, "Fine." She giggled,

"Yay!"

 **XVX**

They pressed on further into the tunnel, and soon enough the crowd reached a set of long stairs. She pouted, "Aw... How long left?" She was a bit surprised when Satotz picked up his pace, and she heard a few mumbling about what kind of guy the examiner was. Pitou wondered too.

"I'm impressed that you two can keep up with me." Killua suddenly said. To her, it was nothing really. She could keep running for days if she wanted to, and still not get tired. She betted that he could easily do the same. "Or maybe that all the others are just really slow."

He sighed, "Man... The Hunter Exam is way easier than I thought. This is gonna be a breeze..."

"This is only the First Phase..." Pitou pointed out, "It could get harder later on."

Killua shrugged his shoulders, "I doubt it. I'm not all that impressed so far."

Gon suddenly squeezed in through our shoulders, looking at Killua. "Hey, why do you want to become a Hunter?"

"Me?" Killua said, "I'm not all that interested in becoming a Hunter. I just heard that the exam was really hard, so I wanted to try it out."

"And what about you?" Killua used his question against him.

"My Dad's a hunter, and I want to become a Hunter just like him!"

Killua hummed a bit before asking another question, "What type of hunter is your Dad?"

"I don't know." Gon shrugged.

Killua started to laugh for a bit which also made Pitou laugh too. She could tell that she was going to have a lot of fun with the two.

"That's weird..." He said after regaining his composure, "You want to be like your Dad but don't know anything about him?"

"Hm." Gon paused, "Well, I was raised by Mito-san, and I've only ever seen my Dad in pictures."

"Mito-san?" Killua blinked.

"Aunt Mito." Gon cleared up. "When my dad was twelve, he took the Hunter Exam and left the island." He told the duo. "I want to know why he chose becoming a Hunter over being with me."

"What about you, Pitou?" Killua asked her, curious to know too. The sudden question startled her. She had to pick her answer wisely as she couldn't spill the beans over why she came here to take the Exam, though she didn't want to give the impression to Gon that they were both just taking the exam for the thrills.

"U-Um... I want to become a... Food Hunter? Cooking Hunter?" She replied, "I dunno. Something associated with food, I guess?"

"A Gourmet Hunter." Gon corrected, and Pitou nodded accordingly.

Killua smirked, "Maybe you could cook for us, ne?"

"That would be great!" Gon's eyes sparkled at that thought, and all the potential good food.

"Nya, I won't be cooking for anyone..." She frowned, crossing her arms with a huff. "Besides, you're expecting too much of me anyway!"

"What's with the... 'nya'?" Killua asked, wondering for quite a while.

"I'm a...- No, I mean, I like cats! Heh, heh heh." She chuckled awkwardly, a sweat drop forming in her temple.

Killua looked at her inquisitively before someone suddenly yelled,

"The exit!" And Pitou looked at the light with a sigh of relief.

"Hey, you two! Wanna race to see who can get there first?"

Gon nodded in compliance, "Sure! The loser who comes in last has to buy dinner for the two up front!"

Pitou's competitive sense got the better of her, and she pumped her fist up. "I accept, nya!"

"Alright, you're on!" Killua exclaimed.

"Ready... Go!" The trio said simultaneously, their speed equalized as they rocketed towards the finish. Satotz was about to make the final step into the finish, though the trio beat him to the chase.

"Goal!" The three yelled in victory. All three of them started to argue over who won, and they all looked at Satotz for his opinion.

"Hey, Satotz! Who made it first?" Gon asked.

"I believe you crossed the 'finish line' simultaneously..." He answered with a slight expression of awkwardness.

"Oh..." Gon frowned rather glumly.

"It doesn't matter, it's fine! We're buying each other lunch, remember?" Pitou said, grinning. The joyful expression returned to Gon's face, and Killua stared at him with an amused look.

Pitou smiled. Phase One wasn't done yet, but she had already made some good buddies! Human buddies too, how weird it sounded to her.

' _I don't understand why everyone back at home hates them, though._ ' She thought. It seems that not all humans were bad eggs like her family, the Chimera Ants taught them to be.

She grinned, "Yosh! Let's do this!"

* * *

 **And that concludes the chapter! To clear things up, Neferpitou is an 11-year old child, and for all who think this idea to be quite weird, I do kind of ship Pitou and Gon, though I'm sure this'll be a love triangle between her, Gon and Killua, to make things interesting. I would like to see Neferpitou return, though that surely won't happen, so what better way than to see her in a non-hostile setting with our favourite protagonists?! I hope you all enjoy, I do think it to be an interesting concept!  
**

 **SuperFictionR5 out.**

 **-SFR5**


	2. Onwards x To x Phase Two!

**Hiya guys! Back with a new chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one too as much as you did the last! And now, I will happily answer the reviews you gave me! :)**

 **khalidmasoudi:**

 **Really? Is that so? Well, that's good. I'm glad that your liking to that pair guides you to this fanfiction! I do particularly like it too, though a love triangle makes it interesting and I couldn't resist. Sorry if this irks you, haha.**

 **Last Future of Embryo:**

 **As I've said, I'm sorry if it irks you a great deal, but I promise to deliver! Gon will get as many fluffy moments with Pitou as you desire, hee-hee!**

 **Chiaki27:**

 **D'aww, thank you! It's reviews like this that motivate me. Thank you for the review, dude! ...Or dudette, whatever gender you may be!**

 **With the reviews done, onto the chapter! :)**

* * *

The fog cleared, and the remaining applicants all realized they were in a swamp. Though it had mostly faded, there were still some fog here and there and this startled some of the crowd. Gon, Killua and Pitou were chatting, trying to pass time until both their two friends came back and when the second portion of Phase One started.

"Hey, Pitou. Why do you want to become a Gourmet Hunter?" Gon asked, curious.

Pitou was slightly startled by the sudden question and quickly shot back, "W-Why the question?" In truth, she would've answered were it not for her trying to buy time in order to think of a plausible answer.

Gon scratched the back of his head, "Well, I want to become a Hunter because of my Dad, and you want to become a Gourmet Hunter. Why?"

 _'Oh Nyo, crap!_ ' She panicked inwardly, ' _Think, Pitou, Think!_ ' As she tried to scramble for ideas, the green-clad boy had saw how sweaty she became after he elaborated on what he meant.

He chuckled awkwardly, waving his hands, "I-It's alright. You don't have to tell me." Pitou sighed in relief, her secrets now safe. Killua was a bit bothered by her distress and was now a bit suspicious of why she had to hide her intentions behind taking the exam.

' _But why?_ ' He contemplated, ' _She must be hiding some secret that she doesn't want to tell us, though I guess I wouldn't blame her. We all just met anyway.'_ Killua shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Thanks, heh." Pitou said, a sweatdrop rolling down her temple in embarrassment. Much to her liking, the silence was broken when the heavy pant of Leorio was heard coming up the stairs and collapsing in pure exhaustion at the top. The blonde, Kurapika, was panting too, though not so heavily. Both of them noticed the trio and sent them a few waves.

"Hey, Kurapika!" Gon beamed and jogged up to him.

Kurapika sent yet another wave and a smile too, "Is this our destination?" He inquired, and Gon shook his head.

"Nope!"

He panted a bit more, "I see." He then spotted Pitou who was startled when their eyes locked, "I'm sorry. I don't think I'm properly introduced to your new acquaintance here."

Pitou was about to act in accordance, though Leorio was finished recovering, "Whew!" He wiped one final sweat off his brow, "The name's Leorio, I suppose I'm sorry for yelling towards you and..." He glanced at Killua,

"Killua." The white-haired boy introduced himself, and Pitou figured she should do the same,

"My name's Neferpitou," She smiled at the two, "But you can call me 'Pitou' for short." She forced her hands to shake theirs, but she drew them back and recoiled when she saw how sweaty they were. Leorio and Kurapika looked at each other for a moment before transitioning into a slight chuckle.

Suddenly, Pitou clenched her belly in slight pain as an uncomfortable feeling made it's way to her stomach. She grit her teeth, "Argh... Why now?" The chimera ant asked particularly no-one. Everyone bar Killua rushed to her side in worriedly, each asking if she was alright or not.

"Pitou! Are you okay?" Gon gasped, wondering what happened to her. Pitou slowly shook her head in accordance and just continued to groan. Killua noticed somewhat that her groans were rather over-exaggerated, and thus he wasn't so much as worried as the trio.

"Leorio, you said you were a doctor, right?" Kurapika asked, wanting a quick clarification. Leorio quickly nodded, asking for his suitcase from Gon who gladly gave it to her. "You should be able to help her, right?" The blonde asked once more, and the incessant questions kind of ticked the suited teen off.

"Yes, yes, I got it!" He grumbled, "We just need to find the-"

A rumble suddenly made it's way into the ears of the three, and they all did a face fault in both shock and embarrassment. Leorio, who started to slowly recover, decided to finish his sentence,

"-cause..." And as soon as he said that, they all sighed in relief when they found out that her 'injury' was merely hunger. Killua, hands in pockets, walked over to the grounded Pitou.

"I thought you had sweets to treat yourself with in your pockets?" Killua blinked. Pitou got her face out of the dirt to look at him, and then simply placing it back into it,

"The one I gave you was the last one I had..."

Killua put a hand to his chin, ' _It has been a few hours since she gave me that, though I could easily withstand long periods of time without food and water. She probably cannot._ ' Killua deduced, ' _Unless she was quite hungry beforehand, and now that I think about it, it seems quite plausible._ '

He shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to let his brain get through some tiresome mental work over figuring out why she was hungry. He sighed,

"Bad luck." He simply said, and Pitou gasped before scrunching up her face in self-pity,

"So rude."

The examiner, Satotz, walked over to the mini-spectacle happening between the friends, wanting to inform them of something. "I'm sorry, but despite your friend's supposed injuries, we're going to have to move on regardless."

Pitou shakily stood up with Kurapika supporting her, another rumble heard once again. "I-It's okay, I can hold on for a bit longer..."

Satotz nodded, "I do suppose you'll be pleased with Phase Two, then." He said, noticing it was just hunger. Pitou didn't know what he meant, so she just kept quiet.

The examiner decided to explain this portion of the first phase,

"The Numere Wetlands, otherwise known as the Swindler's Swamp." He told everyone. Pitou could see some strange birds in the air, and eerie land creatures far in the distance. There were some pretty weird creatures back in her home, the NGL, but this didn't help soothe her slight fright of the unknown.

"We must cross the wetlands in order to reach Phase Two of the exam. This place is home to many peculiar creatures, ones that are cunning creatures that deceive humans and prey upon them."

Sweat rolled down Pitou's back, ' _Glad I'm not human, heheh..._ ' She thought, hoping that the creatures would be able to tell the difference between a Chimera Ant and a Human, even though she looked majorly like one.

"Be _very_ careful. If you let them fool you, you're dead..." Pitou heard many gulps and gasps emanating from the crowd around her. "These creatures will use every trick in the book to deceive you, an ecosystem in which they obtain their meals through deceit, hence the name: 'Swindler's Swamp'. Stay very close to me to prevent this."

She looked around in confusion, not getting the tension. If you stay near him, you'll be fine, right? In her book, now that her slight fears of finding your way to the Phase Two site by yourself was debunked, she wasn't that scared anymore. In fact, she was getting quite excited, and curious at what species lived there.

Leorio rolled his eyes, "Tsk, How can they deceive us when we're expecting it?"

"DON'T LET HIM FOOL YOU!"

Pitou yelped and jumped away from the source of the sound, clinging onto the nearest thing she found. However, she did not know she would land into the arms of Killua, both a blush and a tic mark on his face,

"G-Get off me! Idiot!" Killua shouted with a slight blush on his cheeks, but Pitou merely brought her face closer to his and stuck her tongue out playfully before getting off of him, crossing her arms.

They all whipped their heads 'round to the source of the voice after that, and they saw another person whose face was all bloodied and messed up. Pitou contemplated on whether this was a trick or not, but before she could make her decision, she figured it would be best to hear what he had to say.

"Don't fall for it..." He strongly advised, walking a bit closer to the crowd to make himself more visible, "He's lying to you!" The man pointed at Satotz, who merely gave his usual, emotionless face back.

' _Nya?_ ' She widened her eyes, ' _I'm pretty sure someone from the Committee would know if he was lying or not..._ '

"He's an imposter!" He stated, "I'm the real examiner... He's a fake!"

The mysterious man wasn't sure if he was getting through to people, and thus he began to drag something in to view, "Look at this!" He prompted. Into their sight was a sickly, dead version of Satotz with his tongue hanging out. Everyone gasped at the sight, and Pitou scrunched up her face once again, her eyebrow twitching.

' _Disgusting..._ ' She thought. While she was busy musing over the state of the body, the clown-like stranger, Hisoka, had threw some lethal playing cards at the self-proclaimed examiner and at Satotz, who effortlessly caught them. The other 'examiner', however, wasn't so lucky and fell to the ground, dead. The Satotz-looking creature noticed this and scampered away.

Pitou gasped, looking at both the corpse and Hisoka, "Woah..." She muttered to herself, "I thought playing cards were harmless...?" Suddenly, she started to get excited. She didn't know why though. Maybe it was her interest in the strength he had; the presence of another strong person like herself made her feel giddy.

The clown chuckled as he shuffled his deck of cards, "I see..." He smirked. "That surely settles it." He turned to look at Satotz, a smile on his lips. "So you're the real one."

' _Well, that put the final nail in the coffin._ ' She shrugged.

Satotz dropped the cards currently in his hands, glancing at him.

"Examiners are Hunters," Hisoka explained. "They are selected by the committee to do this job without pay, and any Hunter bearing the title we seek would've been able to block that attack."

Satotz sighed, "I shall take that as a compliment." The examiner said before staring him down. "Though, should you attack me again for any reason, I will report you for attacking and examiner and you will be immediately disqualified." He stressed out, "Are we clear?"

Hisoka smiled, "Sure..." He said simply.

The shriek of a vulture from above gained everyone's attention, and four more vultures came and swooped down to eat the body. While everyone grimaced, Pitou remained calm. Regularly, you'd see mangled, cut open bodies and even skeletons of the creatures the Queen ate at the Chimera Ants hideout back in the NGL.

Satotz started to walk again, and everyone followed. Though as soon as Pitou took a step, her stomach rumbled once more and she froze in the spot. An extra thirty minutes of no food took more of a toll on her than she thought.

"You're not giving up on the exam already, brat?" Leorio asked, looking down on her. Pitou shook her head and looked back up on her with tearful eyes, though more in a motion that suggested that she did not _want_ to give up, rather than she wouldn't.

"Don't worry, Pitou. We won't leave you behind!" Gon and his optimistic self stated once more. "Here, I'll support you." He said, slinging her arm over his so that most of her weight was forced upon him, resulting in her not having to exert much energy while they followed the crowd.

"Thanks, nya..." She whispered, though it sounded way more over-exaggerated than it needed to be, resulting in a sweatdrop from both Kurapika and Leorio.

"Gon, hurry up!" Killua frowned, though he was not easily visible due to how thick the fog now was.

Gon shouted back, "Coming!" The trio ran back to the crowd, though the position they were running in was a bit awkward for both Gon and Pitou. The spiky-haired boy decided to make a suggestion,

"Ne, Pitou. Wouldn't it be better for me to give you a piggyback?" The green-clad boy suggested. Pitou blushed a little, half at the suggestion overall and half at the way he said 'piggyback' instead of just saying to get on your back.

"U-Um... Yeah, S-sure, nya..." Pitou shuffled a bit to lift herself onto his back, and Gon grabbed her legs. "T-Thanks."

Gon grinned as usual, "Your welcome!" Much to his surprise, however, she wasn't really heavy. "Wow, Pitou. You feel good on me! You're incredibly light." He commented, eliciting a shock reaction from Kurapika and Leorio.

Pitou, on the other hand, grew beet red, blushing madly at what he just said. ' _H-How do I respond to that? Nya, this guy is too innocent for his own good!_ '

Leorio barked at him, "Gon, did you not realize what you just said?!"

"I don't think he does..." Kurapika answered Leorio, who just sighed.

Gon just tilted his head, not knowing why his friends were acting this way. "Why? What's the problem?"

Pitou shook herself while on his back in embarrassment, "N-Nothing! You don't need to know!" Gon just retained his confused look, and eventually they were considerably in enough range to be catching up to Killua. None of them realized that they lost both Kurapika and Leorio to the fog as they quickened their pace.

Killua gave him a wave, "Yo, Gon." He greeted to which he greeted back. Though, Killua frowned at the sight of Pitou on his back. "W-Why the heck is she on your back?" He pointed towards the neko while running. Pitou stuck her tongue at the slanted-eyed boy as a reaction to which he grit his teeth at.

Gon sweat-dropped, "Well, she couldn't run anymore so I offered to help her out." He tilted his head though, "Why? Is it a problem?" He innocently asked once more.

Killua widened his eyes before looking away with both blush and frown. "N-No, not really..." He looked back with a pout before transitioning it into a mocking smirk, "I guess it can't be helped that she's _useless._ " He stuck out his tongue too, and this made a tic mark on her forehead.

"W-Why you..." She growled, but before anything could escalate, Gon held his hand up to signal for the duo to shut up. Killua came to a halt too, though the neko couldn't find what was wrong.

"N-Nya...?" She tilted her head, looking at both the two rapidly. Though, since none of them were answering, she focused hard herself. They were faint, but she could hear multiple screams from deep into the fog.

"People are screaming around us..." He pointed out. He looked at Killua, "I wonder if Leorio and Kurapika are okay." Killua just gave a shrug, though it was majorly uncaring.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them started to rumble, and Gon held onto Pitou a bit tighter, who wrapped her arms around his neck. Killua noticed this and grunted with a slight blush covering his cheeks,

' _I can't believe her... I-It pisses me off!_ '

The mouth of a creature gobbled the trio up, and when they seemed to be on their way down into the digestive system of the creature, Pitou did a cat-like wail through the whole experience, and even when they, out of all odds, miraculously found their way out. Thick and slimy liquid engulfed every one of them, and Pitou gagged at this through her wail. Gon just waited for her to stop while Killua was growing increasingly annoyed by her signs of not stopping.

In a split-second, Killua grabbed both her shoulders and shook her really hard, "Hey! Stop screaming, you're hurting my ears!" And this was when she finally noticed that the whole ordeal was over. She sighed in relief,

"Thanks. I don't think I could've survived that in my state." However, their faces were a bit too close for comfort and they blushed, scooting away from each other.

Killua emptied the can of juice mixed with laxatives that was in his pocket, and Pitou sweat-dropped,

"It looks like Tonpa saved us, huh?" Gon smiled as he stood up, assisting Pitou who was doing likewise.

Pitou pouted, hating the help that came from the most unlikeliest of sources. She still held a grudge on him for attempting to poison her, and even moreso for lying to her. She certainly didn't like his guts, not one bit.

"Well, I could've escaped." Killua said pompously, tossing the can away and shoving his hands back in his pockets. Pitou smiled in awe, it seemed like everything went easy for him. She wondered how well her own physical ability could match with his, and she surely would want to clarify that question sometime in the future.

As soon as he realized that Pitou was staring him down with a smile, he looked away and scratched the back of his head. "W-Well, it really isn't that much of a big deal." He muttered, "Let's get moving." The white-haired boy prompted.

"O-Oh!" Gon realized, seeing Pitou walk further along by herself. The cat-like ant grunted with a blush, hoping he wouldn't remember that she needed support and thus make things quite a bit awkward. "Pitou, you're still vulnerable. Do you need my help still?" He asked, and Pitou shook her head.

"N-No, actually." She whispered with a blush, "I don't think I'm hungry anymore after that experience..."

Gon beamed, "Okay!" He did realize another thing, however. The absence of both Leorio and Kurapika, and he frowned at that. "I'm still worried about Kurapika and Leorio. Should we find them?" Gon suggested, and Killua immediately shook his head.

"Forget them." Killua groaned, "Let's get moving. We can still catch up." Gon frowned and followed Killua as he broke out into a light jog along the path where the crowd was presumed to be taking.

Pitou grinned as she took sight of the main group ahead. Killua seemed to be pleased about this too, and looked back to inform Gon of this in case he didn't know.

"Look, Gon. We caught up to the main group." Killua said to Gon, though both Pitou and Killua realized he wasn't there. They immediately knew where he could've went, and that was to go and save his friends, Kurapika and Leorio, leaving the two alone.

"We should go after him!" Pitou encouraged, though Killua shook his head in denial. Pitou prompted, tilting her head with a pout. "Why not?"

"It's okay. He should be able to find his way back. He's full of surprises." He admitted. Though she still worried, with that out of the way, she decided to initiate conversation with him.

"Hey, Killua. Where do you come from?" Pitou started, "You don't seem to be an ordinary kid, nya."

Killua put a hand to his chin, not knowing how to answer this question. He couldn't find an answer both normal yet true, so he decided to shift the attention away from him.

"It's not important. What about you?" He asked, and Pitou sweat-dropped.

' _He's expecting me to answer when he didn't really answer my question..._ ' But then she started to giggle at the fact. Killua tilted his head, not knowing why or what she was giggling over.

"What's so funny?" He queried, and she waved it off with one hand while the other was used to hide her mouth in laughter.

She shook her head, "No, it's nothing important." Then she looked him in the eye, "Well, I live in the NGL with every one of my relatives. You see, the whole system of command all revolves around my mother, the Queen. Every piece of food, items and valuables we bring home immediately belongs to her, and for our own stuffs, we'd need to hunt for ourselves. Though, there are a limited amount of things we could own anyway."

Killua scrunched up his face, "That's kinda stupid." He admitted, and Pitou scratched the back of her head, even though she kind of disagreed. "What about the King? If there is one."

Pitou continued, "It's... complicated." She awkwardly chuckled, deciding not to reveal that. "I do have two brothers that I care about, even though they can be annoying from time to time. I'm sure they mean well, though." She said, talking about Pouf and Youpi.

"Hold on, I just realized." Killua blinked, "You said you lived in the NGL, right?" He asked. Pitou nodded as if it were normal, and this surprised the white-haired boy. He widened his eyes at that, knowing how primitive and harsh the environment around there was.

"Oh? It must've been a lot for you to survive there." Killua noted, and she nodded her head.

"It was."

At this point, Killua felt a bit bad for not telling her about his origin, so he decided to spill,

"Well, to answer your previous question, I live on the top of Kukuroo Mountain in the Dentora Region of Padokea." He simply answered. Pitou gasped in awe once more as she knew of Kukuroo Mountain, and better yet, the family that lived on top of it. She wanted to know if it was him or not,

"Really?" Her eyes sparkled, "There's a family that lives atop the mountain that I've read in a book. What was their names again? Zodick? Zodiac?"

"Zoldyck." Killua corrected, "And yes, I'm one of them."

Pitou put a hand to her chin in thought, "Really...?" The chimera ant said and then grew silent, awkwardly staring at him for a few seconds. The Zoldyck noticed this and a slight red tint invaded his cheeks once more and he looked away as an attempt to console it.

Suddenly, a mischievous grin played at Pitou's lips, "Y-Y'know, there's a big reward for getting even one picture of 'em, nya. M-maybe..." She trailed off, giggling creepily.

Killua looked displeased and decided to be stern, "You're not snapping a picture of me, idiot." And Pitou scrunched up her face out of rejection, though she was relentless.

"C'mon, pweese?" She asked once more, trying to look her cutest and baring her adorable little fangs, though it didn't faze him much.

"No." He shook his head, flicking her forehead, making her recoil away in pain. Though the pain subsided in a few seconds, she clutched her forehead like a drama-queen in order to grab what ever pity she could attain from Killua though she failed. He immediately knew what she was trying to do and shook his head with a slight chuckle,

"Tsk," He grunted, amused. "You're weird... and annoying." And Pitou went into a fit of giggles, grabbing Killua's shoulders while she bent over in a laughing fit. This encouraged him to laugh as well, though not as large a scale as she. They started to run once more, and thankfully, they didn't lose track of the was weird though, he couldn't pinpoint what in their conversation made her laugh and he intended to find out.

"What's so funny?" He asked again, "It wasn't _that_ funny."

She beamed at him, "It's your attitude; your personality, Kil'." She stated, "I find it to be very amusing, nya!"

He tilted his head, "Really? How so?" Killua asked, smiling.

"It's funny not knowing whether you're serious or not." She explained, grabbing his attention. He sighed, though. It may've just been harmless fun this time around, but this fact caused people not to believe a word he says sometimes, like how he is an ex-assassin of the Zoldyck Family. It was a different this time around, however. Pitou believed him, and this kind of made him feel glad, even if it were just the slightest of feelings.

"Well, it's not like didn't know that already." He said nonchalantly, one hand scratching the back of his head while the other in his pocket. "You could say it works in my favour, but it gets annoying when the inability to believe me stems from it." His eyes darted away with a bored expression,

"You don't have to worry one bit, nya!" Pitou re-assured, patting his back while they ran. "I know we just met, but I'll help you out always whenever I can."

Slight red colouring filled his cheeks when she said that, but he felt gratitude for that. "I see. Thanks, I guess."

" _If_... you could give me a-"

"Shut up."

Pitou giggled.

 **XVX**

It had been a few minutes since the duo reached the Phase Two site. Pitou and Killua mostly chatted beside a tree which the downed Leorio sat in. He got there via Hisoka dumping him down there and while giving them a creepy eye smile which both made them shudder.

"Guys!" A familiar voice shouted towards them, and they instantly knew who it was.

"Oi, Gon!" Killua waved at him with a smile, motioning for him to come over. They both noticed that they had Kurapika with them which was great too.

Gon grinned when he spotted Leorio beside them, "Ah, Leorio is with you two too!" And Killua nodded accordingly. He scooted into Gon's ear with a mischievous glint in his eye, and Pitou stomped her foot on the ground and pouted, hating not being included in a conversation.

She could see Gon whip his head away from the albino Zoldyck in shock when he finished muttering what he had to mutter, and Pitou's curiosity grew into boiling point.

"W-What did he tell you?!" Pitou asked with a growl, holding Gon by his collar though not too tightly. A lone sweat-drop rolled down his temple while he pointed at Killua, not wanting to say himself.

"Don't worry, Pitou. Perhaps I was just informing Gon about your stupidly weird behaviour around me, and how apparently irresistible I am around you." He smirked, causing the chimera ant's face to grow beet red in both embarrassment and shock.

"S-Stupid!" She insulted, "You're lying, liar! Gon, what he's saying is _not_ true."

"Sure is!" He leaned in closer to her,

"No it isn't!"

Kurapika decided to step in, wanting to clear any hostility. "Now, now. Let's just forget this quarrel, it's petty." He advised, and Pitou sighed, still red.

' _S-Stupid assassin... Pervert!_ ' Then she scooted over to Gon and smacked him upside the head, making him moan in pain.

"Ow!" He cried, clutching his head. "W-Why?"

Pitou had a scolding look plastered onto her face, "Don't run off again, Gon! There was no reason to!" Pitou ordered sternly, but Gon decided to go onto the defensive.

"Yes, there was! Kurapika and Leorio were in trouble!"

"Even so..." Pitou continued, "At least alert us before running off! You could've died, stupid!"

"I-I see," Gon smiled, "Well, I'm thankful that you care enough to worry! But I'm sorry, I'm sure I would've gone anyway."

The chimera ant slightly blushed when he said that and darted his eyes away from her with a pout, "Yes, yes. Don't mention it."

Leorio seemed to be waking up, and everyone towered over him with either looks of pity or amusement. "Ow... Why the heck am I all beaten up? My memory's all hazy..." He whined, caressing his sore cheek.

Killua looked at Gon, "How did you find your way here anyway?"

"I tracked his cologne. It's very different compared to everyone else's."

Pitou opened her mouth in shock, looking at him weirdly. "Cologne? That's how? Wow, that's both cool yet weird." She stated, "I feel so alienated here, nya. You all have all these cool, distinct quirks that mine cant compare to..."

Killua smirked, "See? What'd I say Gon? She's _useless._ "

Pitou scowled and attempted to bop him on the head though he effortlessly caught her fist, surprising her a little. It was highly unlikely for someone to block her fist yet catch it. She would have to enquire about that later.

Satotz looked at his watch and deemed the waiting period over, "Excellent work, everyone. Phase One has now ended, and Phase Two will commence here at Biska Park. I shall take my leave; best of luck to all of you."

When he left, Pitou grinned madly and thrust her fist forward for a fist bump which Gon happily returned and Killua did nonchalantly. Leorio and Kurapika decided to join in the fun too to which they were happily welcome to,

"We cleared Phase One!" They all shouted joyously.

* * *

 **And that concludes Chapter Two! Thanks for tuning in and peace out!  
**

 **-SFR5**


	3. Hunter x Hunger

**Hey guys! Back with another chapter! Time forrrr... REVIEW REPLY TIME!  
**

 **Melissa the kawai yandere:**

 **Polyamorous? Ehh, I dunno. I mean, I think by the time the boys realize they like her, it'll be a competitive, playful race to see who gets her first which slowly gets out of hand. Anyhow, I just hope you like the plotline I concoct for you readers, though perhaps I am willing to take slightly more minor requests.**

 **Albertsimmons79:**

 **This again? . ...Just joking! Since you guys really want a Gon x Pitou narrative, I'll probably make one in the future. I mean, the last one was a lemon story between the two a couple of years back, and I get how you guys may want another one. Maybe it'll be similar? Who knows?**

 **Guest:**

 **Thank you! It's reviews like these that encourage me to keep writing for you guys!**

 **Makomarisan (whatever, :P): Thanks! I aim to impress you further! Stay tuned for more.**

 **Welp, that's the end of that! Let's get onto the story!**

* * *

The rumble of the doors alerted every applicant, and the doors that were previously closed now started to open. Everyone was waiting for the inevitable, and on top of that, were feeling quite a bit tense.

The group looked at each other with a determined look, and waited for their cue to enter. It took a bit for Pitou's eyes to adjust so that she could see what was properly inside, and when she did, she looked with a happy and excited face at all the cooking stations with bowls of fruit, ingredients and the like. She was about to run in and eat them all, regardless of the Phase Two examiner's consents. However, before she could do so, Killua grabbed her by the neck of her overcoat and pulled her back.

Pitou looked back at him with the cutest eyes she could muster, begging to be let go but he wouldn't falter. She looked away from him once she realized he wouldnt, and she pouted followed up with her stomach grumble.

"Will all the applicants please enter?" A womanly voice asked, and everyone complied. As the crowd walked along the dirt path, Pitou was eye-balling the fruits still, and in order to snatch one without Killua noticing, she intentionally slowed down her pace with her hands behind her back, and she slowly extended them to a lone station but Leorio stopped her instead,

"Oi, oi. It's not time yet; don't be stupid." He advised.

Pitou groaned loudly, "Aw, Leorio!" She whined. Killua looked back to see the mini-disturbance behind him and saw that Leorio had Pitou's hand in his, seemingly preventing her from taking a fruit. Killua smirked, giving Leorio a thumbs up,

"Nice one, Leorio."

"Shut up!" Pitou grumbled.

Everyone was slightly confused at the weirdly-looking examiners upfront. On a couch was a woman in slightly exposing clothing and an large, overweight man sitting behind it.

"Welcome!" The woman smiled at the sight of promising-looking applicants, "I am Menchi, the Phase Two examiner."

"And I am Buhara, the other one." Buhara smiled likewise, introducing himself.

The whole park didn't say a word as they were too busy scanning the two, believing them to be a bit too odd to be looking like examiners. Suddenly, a big rumble erupted from an unknown source, and everyone searched for it.

"I know that sound..." Neferpitou said with a dark look in her eyes. Her friends looked at her with a confused look, as if asking for her to elaborate, "It's... the sound of another person with a yearning for something that I yearn for likewise, nya! Food! It's like our stomachs are speaking to each other; the symphonic sound of hunger!" She explained, a grumble on her stomach causing her to crouch down once more.

Killua was about to simply flick her forehead, but Gon went to her first, "Don't worry, Pitou. I'm sure you'll get the chance to eat soon!" He comforted, patting her shoulder.

Pitou turned her head to him, "Th-Thanks, Gon. You're so nice, unlike albino punk there!" She smirked, giving Gon a hug to express this. The silver-haired assassin knew at once that she was trying to guilt-trip him, and he grit his teeth, a slight pang of guilt hitting him anyway though quickly washed away by his annoyance. Gon noticed this and sweat-dropped at the sight of the annoyed Killua while Pitou hugged him.

Menchi looked up to Buhara, "You must be hungry." She said simply,

"I'm starving..." Buhara frowned,

"There you have it..." Menchi stood up and turned to us, "Phase Two of the exam will involve..."

' _I-I'm not becoming dinner for anybody..._ ' Pitou frowned, putting her hands behind her back with one hand having their claws extended.

"Cooking!" The examiners both said simultaneously.

' _O-Oh..._ ' Pitou thought with a sweat-drop, retracting her claws. Some of the crowd burst out laughing, not believing the situation at all. If it was one thing they knew, it was that they weren't going to fail via the inability to cook.

"Cooking?" A heavyweight man grumbled, "We're here to take the Hunter Exam!"

Menchi nodded with a smile, "You're quite right," She confirmed, "The challenge for Phase Two is to make a dish that will satisfy our palates." The heavy-looking man grunted, seemingly not pleased. He decided to voice his opinion,

"Why the hell do we have to cook?!"

"That's because..." Menchi paused, a grin on her face, "We're Gourmet Hunters!" Pitou drooled at the thought of what these Gourmet Hunters were capable of in regards to cooking. However, thinking about food made her stomach grumble once more and she dropped to her knees and her chin made contact with the dirt as she clenched her belly.

' _Ohhh..._ ' She pouted, willing to eat anything, even the dirt on the ground. Gon felt he was obligated to help her, but Killua blocked him from doing so with his arm, insisting that she was just being a drama queen.

Menchi narrowed her eyes at the ones that started to laugh at the very idea of Gourmet Hunters, and then she sighed. Pitou knew she must've been somewhat pissed at their attitudes.

"So, what are we supposed to make, eh?" A brute-ish looking guy said mockingly with a stupid smirk.

Menchi grumbled, "Buhara." She said simply.

"The required ingredient is pork!" Buhara stood up, smiling.

Pitou bit her lip, ' _Aww... If only me and him switched places! I'm itching for meat too..._ '

"Pork?" A random guy said, "As in pig meat?"

The obese Gourmet Hunter nodded, "You're free to use any species of Biska Forest pig." He notified, "You must use the facilities we provide here, and you can only pass if we both find it delicious." Buhara finished.

"And we will evaluate more than just the taste. Don't downplay other modes of cooking!"

Menchi spoke up once more, "When we've both eaten our fill, the exam will end."

It was Buhara's turn now, "The Exam's Second Phase begins now!" Pitou shook in shock as the gong, or Buhara's belly to be exact, was used to signify the start also.

She sighed, not wanting to take another step before she collapsed. She wiggled to Killua and clasped her hands around his ankle, gaining his attention. "Killuaaa..." She awkwardly chuckled, "Can you bring me a pig too, nya?"

Killua grunted as he scratched his cheek in contemplation, "Pfft, how useless can you be?" He commented, though Pitou didn't respond and kept up her stare at him in anticipation. The boy did not give in, shaking his head, "No, impossible. You have to come."

Pitou groaned and rested her head in the grass as Killua got her on his back who didn't want to waste any more time. She rested her head on his shoulder as they advanced towards the forest, though quickly recoiling back and clasping her mouth with a blush, hoping he didn't notice. Though, it looked like he did as she could even smell the awkwardness in the air.

"Catch a pig then cook it?" Leorio commented, "This is way easier than the first phase." He scoffed.

"Mhm." Pitou mumbled lazily, playing and pulling his soft cheeks while she was latched onto his back, "Though it doesn't mea-"

"S-Stop that!" He barked, and Pitou giggled.

"Oh, Killua, you're so-" Though, for the second time, she was interrupted but not by the speech of another but the unusual behaviour of Gon. Suddenly, he sniffed the air and slid down a hill on his butt, and this elicited a grin from Killua as he too got ready to slide down.

"N-No wait! Killua, I'm still on your back!" Pitou wailed as she tried to escape but Killua held on tight, bringing her down with him. Leorio and Kurapika followed suit. Pitou bumped her face onto Killua's back, a slight cry of discomfot as that happened and adding onto that were Kurapika and Leorio who hit her back. Better yet, Leorio's foot happened to hit the spot in her short where her tail was tucked in, making her cry out even louder.

"Ow! Killua, I hate you!" She whined as she repeatedly tried to swipe at his face from behind him to which he just simply dodged and laugh simultaneously.

"Are you alright, Pitou?" Kurapika asked worriedly, and while clutching her head, she nodded yes. Then she turned to Gon,

She pouted, "Gee, Gon! There you go again with your unpredictability, nya!" Gon scratched the back of his head with an awkward chuckle,

"S-Sorry, Pitou!" He sweat-dropped before looking to the side, and Pitou gasped at the amount of pigs there were, though they were unusually big and had horns on them. The horde of pigs, however, were chewing on bones, and Leorio felt the need to point this out,

"They're... chewing on bones?"

"Don't tell me they're carnivores..." Kurapika nervously said.

Pitou grabbed Killua and intended on using him as a meatshield, seeing as the pig looked at the group with the bone in their mouths snapping threateningly. Killua merely sighed, pushed her out of the way and jumped away himself seeing as the pig was running at them.

Too tired to keep on running in this state, Pitou found that Gon was closest to her and jumped on him, latching herself onto him in an awkward position. "Go, Go, Go!" She prompted, pointing forward, and he obliged.

As they came over the hill, the other applicants looked at them in confusion, and when they saw the stampede behind them, they started to run too. "Gon, faster, faster!"

"I can't, Pitou! You're too heavy!"

' _H-Heavy?_ ' She gave an exaggerated, depressed look. The situation was a bit too dire, however, to be scolding him about talking about her weight. Everyone else were trying to take out the pigs, but they couldn't be pierced through. Not even Hanzo's ninja stars could do the trick.

Gon lead one to a tree to get it to bump it's head into one, though it didn't faze it one bit. However, it was when the apples came down onto it's forehead that Pitou realized their weakness. She pat his head as an expression of gratitude for being such a genius.

"You're a genius, Gon!"

"I am!"

She giggled at his innocence, patting his head once more, "The foreheads!" She shouted to Killua, Kurapika and Leorio who were seeming to have trouble with the pigs. "Hit the foreheads!"

Pitou looked at Killua, who leapt high in the air and brought his foot down onto it's forehead, with amazement. Her eyes twinkled, ' _So strong... I wanna fight him... I wanna-_ ' Suddenly, she got out of Gon's back and let out an excited, cat-like scream as she started to dispatch all the pigs. Everyone looked at the crazed, adrenaline-filled chimera ant with confusion.

"Is she okay?" Kurpapika queried.

"Beats me." Leorio shrugged.

After she beat them all, she let out yet another wail before collapsing onto the grass on her back, the adrenaline leaving her. Killua looked at her, crouched down. "Hey, you're pretty strong. Guess you are of some use." Killua said as he grabbed her, letting her lean on his shoulder for support.

"You too, nya." She complimented back, smiling. Though, since their faces were quite close in proximity, they both quickly whipped their heads away with a blush. Then she turned back to him,

"Y'know, getting complimented by you feels oddly rewarding."

Killua blinked, "I... don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not..." He looked at her with skepticism. Pitou giggled at that.

Gon, who heard the little conversation, strangely felt the need to comment. "Ne, what about me, Pitou?"

Pitou gave him a thumbs up, "You're good, nya. You're naturally nice, so I always feel grateful towards you." Gon gave a mocking grin towards Killua who stuck his tongue out to both of them,

"Yeah, yeah. Don't care!" He grunted a bit jealously.

By the time everyone was back, most were already putting their pigs on the spits. When she found the strength to stand up on her own and walk, the chimera ant ambled towards one of the facilities and, when the examiners weren't looking, sneakily took a couple of fruits inside her overcoat and walked towards the examiners.

"Ne, um..." She began nervously, "Where's the bathroom, nya?"

Menchi gave her a weird look and used her thumb to point backwards, "Go inside. You should be able to find it." Pitou bowed in thanks and scampered inside. As soon as she found the bathroom, which took her a good five minutes, she let the fruits fall from the inside of her overcoat and she started to munch on them greedily, exclaiming moans of satisfaction as she ate whatever she garnered from the cooking facilities outside. To an outsider, the noises which emanated from the outside must've weirded them out greatly.

A few seconds later, Pitou was inspecting an apple core with a pout, not even halfway full yet. She sighed, ' _It should be enough for now._ ' She shrugged, thankful that she at least had something to eat. The chimera ant then decided to pull out her tail and to show her ears, giving them time to breathe even though they themselves were not living entities.

She sighed in exhaustion; it felt so awkward keeping them tucked in and she was glad to have them out now. "I wonder if they would accept it..." She frowned as she played with her own tail. After she was done, she smiled once again,

"Well, can't be helped, nya..." She shrugged. Pitou went back to her own spit to see that it was already roasting, courtesy of Killua.

Killua went next to her, "There you go. You owe me one."

Pitou beamed, "Aww, see? You do have somewhat of a good heart!"

Killua grit his teeth, "What are you talking about? I'm nice!"

"Are you?" She gave him a mocking smile.

"Heck yeah!"

Leorio gave both of them a rough noogie. "Stop arguing and start cooking. Killua, you better keep an eye on her." Leorio advised, "She might eat the pig she makes."

He smirked when he caught eyes with her, "Of course. Never trust a hungry person with food."

Neferpitou flailed her hands around in the air, "You're wrong!"

 **XVX**

Every examinee was getting flushed out as each and every dish failed to please Menchi, even though Buhara liked them all. It was as if none of them was putting any effort at all, as they were all doing virtually the same thing.

Pitou just stared at her pig on the spit as it rotated, trying to apply all the knowledge she crammed into her head about cooking when she exited the NGL. She inspected the pig; it was not undercooked or overcooked. In her eyes, it looked just right. She cut off a little chunk and tasted it herself; it was good, very good, in fact. Before she got carried away, she started to slice the pig up and put it on a plate, applying vegetables and seasoning, similar to what Kurapika had done.

Gon walked up her way with a shameful look on his face, scratching his head in confusion. Pitou blinked, wanting to see what was wrong with him.

"Is something wrong, nya?" She asked, hand on his shoulder. He could only give her a sad look,

"I was compared to Leorio... in my cooking." Pitou burst out laughing at that, and Gon gave her a confused look while Leorio, who overhead, started to shout at the duo in anger,

"Oi, shut up! I'm not that pitiful!"

Gon chuckled and looked at her, "How's your pig going, Pitou?"

Pitou glanced at her pig with pride. It looked good to her. "Awesome, nya! Wanna have a taste?" She offered, holding up the knife so that he could slice a chunk. He nodded his head rapidly and tasted her pig. He widened his eyes, and Pitou grew worried.

"Is it that bad?" She tilted her head.

"No!" He exclaimed, "This is perfect!" Pitou smiled, accepting the compliment.

"Yep, it is." Killua said after sneakily taking a chunk and trying it himself. "Gon, her cooking for us doesn't sound like a bad idea to me." Killua said referring to his earlier joke offer back at the start of the Numere Wetlands. Gon gave a toothy smile as a response.

"If you say so, nya." She smiled.

Kurapika came back with a depressed look, scratching his head in confusion. Gon tilted his head,

"What's wrong, Kurapika?" Gon asked, coming up to his side.

"I suppose I miscalculated my conclusion." He said, "All it did was make me get compared to Leorio."

Leorio growled at them, "Shut up!" And they all laughed bar Leorio who folded his arms.

She grinned, wanting to try out her own food after the compliments Gon and Killua gave them. "This oughta be good! Let's have a little taste." She smiled, cutting up yet another small portion and eating it, her eyes widening with how good it was. Pitou looked at her hand in amazement,

' _Somehow, I even amaze myself! If only Shaia and Youpi could taste this!_ ' She thought happily. Pitou didn't even keep track of her hand as it kept cutting up portions of her own food and stuffing it in her mouth, squealing at how good it was.

The group noticed this, however it seemed that Killua stopped them from taking action. He nearly chuckled seeing her eating the dish that she was supposed to present, and decided against stopping her. He smirked to himself,

"Pfft. I'm not having her pass this and me not." He decided wickedly, "If I go down, she's going down with me." He turned around and whistled, pretending not to see anything.

Menchi finished rejecting the next person, prompting for the next participant to come, "Next!" It was Pitou's turn, though when she turned to view her, all that was seen was her patting her bloated belly on the ground with the Biska Pig's bone lying next to her. Gon, Leorio and Kurapika burst out laughing while Killua just smirked, chuckling himself. Buhara was slightly displeased that he couldn't eat his final fill, though Menchi shook her head with a growl.

"You all fail! We're finished here." She stood up. However, the man who was initially complaining decided to voice his complaint once more,

"I will not accept this! I absolutely refuse to!" He scowled.

Menchi frowned at him, "In the end, you failed. That's not my fault."

"Don't screw with me! You asked for pork, and we-"

Menchi cut him off, "I told you to prepare the pork in an acceptable manner that we both could enjoy. None of you made anything remotely delicious! No effort!" She tut, getting angry herself.

Leorio went over to Pitou and kicked her gently in order to get her to listen, "Oi, brat. Get up," He grit his teeth as he sent a glare towards the examiners, "You're stupidity is making me even more pissed off."

"Wha-?" Pitou looked around rapidly before looking up, "Leorio?" She smiled stupidly, seemingly no shame on her end, "I just ate the best pork ever..." She drooled dreamily before resting her head back on the grass. The tall teen decided it wasn't worth it to pick her up and carry her to the group, so he just left her there.

"Just when I saw something unique, it turned out they only changed the look! I'm sure that none of you took the cooking seriously!" Menchi growled. People balled their fists in anger, and it seemed that everyone disapproved of the test overall moreso when they learned of her attitude. The applicants started to mutter in annoyance, and Menchi likewise,

"In other words, no-one has the guts to try anything new!"

"Don't screw with me!" The earlier man said, "I'm not trying to be a cook or anything like that! I want to become a Hunter!"

Pitou finally sat up, tilting her head with a frown, ' _Isn't it the same? Being any type of Hunter would be somewhat dangerous or thrilling, I do not suppose being a Gourmet Hunter would be an exception of that, nya..._ ' Pitou hummed, ' _Though, I sincerely do NOT want to fail like this!_ ' She growled, gritting her teeth. Pitou started to remember why she wanted to become a Hunter in the first place, and because of that, she refused to be disqualified by everyone's inability to cook... and her eating her own dish. She giggled at the thought momentarily before switching back to her serious face.

"I want to become a Black-List Hunter. I refuse to let a mere Gourmet Hunter decide my fate!"

Menchi decided to shoot back, "Well, you got stuck with one as an examiner! Better luck next time?" She said mockingly, enraging the man even more. He shot towards her in an attempt to dispense his rage towards her, but Menchi remained calmly seated as Buhara did the honors of knocking him out, sending him flying towards a wall.

Everyone was in an outrage at this point, shouting out their concerns. Pitou gritted her teeth in frustration, having to hide in a secluded corner and crouched down with her hands covering her ears. Since she was a cat, she had better hearing compared to the average humans, though superior it sounded like, a setback of it was having to put up with loud noises. The chimera ant groaned, suddenly standing up and, with her claws extended, approaching the crowd.

With each step, her bloodlust increased. She didn't realize it at first, but it seemed that her aggravation towards the ignorant set of examinees were annoying her at a rate that steadily increased.

' _I'll,_ ' Another step. ' _Kill,_ ' Yet another. ' _You-_ '

"Pitou?" An innocent voice she knew all to well piped up. "You okay?" The chimera ant slowly turned her head towards him, her killing intent still flaring to which it didn't even seem to faze Gon. When she caught sight of him, she instantly returned to her normal self.

"Y-Yeah, hehe." Pitou gulped, before deciding to tell the truth. "Gee, I felt like I was going to kill someone..." She moaned, putting her hands behind her head while her eyebrow still twitched.

"Really?" Gon widened his eyes, an expression of shock and awe plastered on his face though moreso the innocent kind, "I'm glad I stopped you when I did!"

"Sorry, I guess..." She said idly, but Gon grabbed her hand to lead her back towards their little group of friends.

"There's nothing to apologize for. C'mon, let's go back!"

Pitou liked the feeling of his hands. They were warm, and she felt quite calm too. She got flustered a bit when she realized she thought about this, hopelessly trying to shake the thought away.

"Something wrong?"

"N-No..."

Menchi looked at her gigantic friend irritably, "Buhara. Don't interfere."

Buhara looked back at her, "You would've killed him had I not interfered, right?" She merely looked at him an stood up, starting to descend the stairs.

"Probably." The Gourmet Hunter started to juggle knives effortlessly, which made Pitou sigh in awe. "Let me clarify this. We venture into the dens of ferocious beasts to collect ingredients."

"We Hunters knows some form of martial arts," She said, "You all lack the focus and intent to experiment. That alone disqualifies you as a Hunter!"

Everyone tensed, rage boiling deep inside every one of them.

Then a voice boomed from above, gaining everyone's attention. "It would be such a waste to fail every single applicant."

"Is that the Selection Committee?!" A random person exclaimed, "It's the symbol of the Hunter Association!"

Suddenly, someone jumped from the airship and was plummeting towards the ground. Despite everyone's shock, he landed on the ground with a crater being made on impact, though there was no visible injury on him..

Menchi stepped forward, "The Chairman of the Committee. He's in charge of the Hunter Exam..."

' _Wow..._ ' Pitou twinkled, ' _He must be strong..._ ' In her eyes, he must've been surely powerful. A leader of any faction was usually the strongest, and him falling from such a height without sustaining injury confirmed it for her even though such a feat wasn't that impressive.

"Well, I work behind the scenes." The chairman explained, "I only take action when there is an issue, like now. So, Menchi..."

"Yes, sir?"

The old man began, "You failed every applicant because you disapproved of their reluctance to try new things?"

Menchi shook her head, "No, sir. I lost my composure when someone insulted the very idea of Gourmet Hunters, and I made the exam harder than necessary."

Pitou briefly glanced towards the direction of where the man was hit to, chuckling a bit.

"So, it seems you were aware of this phase being unacceptable?"

She looked down in shame, "Yes sir." Menchi nodded, "When cooking is involved, I lose control. I'm unfit to be an examiner, so I'll resign. Please, redo this phase!" She pleaded.

The chairman frowned, "It would be rather difficult to find another examiner on such short notice..."

"I sincerely apologize..."

 **XVX**

Netero then thought of an idea, and explained it to Menchi who wholeheartedly agreed.

The applicants entered the airship, and arrived at some kind of canyon.

Pitou looked down and saw many webs on the ravine which had eggs webbed up below them.

"Now, everyone. Look down there. Those are a Spider Eagle's web."

The chairman opted to continue for her, "Spider Eagles build their eggs in deep ravines to protect their eggs from predators. This makes them one of the most difficult ingredients to obtain. They are also known as dream eggs."

Pitou raised her hand, "Are we going to jump down to go and collect them?" She asked, and Menchi nodded. "I thought so..." While she remained composed, some others grew shocked at the task. Not of fear of height, but the seemingly lack of way to get back up.

Menchi jumped down, shocking everyone even more. To everyone's relief, she grabbed onto a web, seeming to be waiting for something. Leorio was confused, "How will she get back up, even if she does get an egg?"

"I wonder too, nya." Pitou simply waited, sitting down cross-legged at the edge. Then Menchi let go, plummeting towards the endless abyss. This act caused everyone to cry out in shock, even if she did manage to grab one egg anyway.

Pitou gulped, a cold sweat rolling down her cheek as she waited for what could happen. She figured that she must've knew some way beforehand on how to get back up safely, though there was no visible way for anyone. Suddenly, her hair blew up by the very strong wind that came from below, and Menchi came along with it with the egg in her hands.

"Ohhhh!" She looked at Menchi who was suspended in the air by the wind with awe. "That must've been the wind!"

While she was deep in thought, Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio suddenly leapt into the depths of the ravine, luckily grabbing onto a web. She knelt down to look at them, "Wow, you guys!"

"Hurry up and get down here, stupid!" Killua shouted at her, and though slightly aggravated by that comment, she complied. Pitou jumped, sprawling her legs and arms out similar to what a cat would do, and screamed in pure excitement. Though as soon as she opened her eyes, it seemed as if she miscalculated her trajectory and was a couple of inches away from where she intended to land.

She gulped once more, gritting her teeth giving her own head a hard hit from her fist in frustration. ' _I could probably survive the fall, but that's a baseless assumption. I don't know what lies at the bottom._ '

"Gotcha!" Gon beamed as he caught her tail which had made it's way out from being tucked in within her shorts, and Pitou started to grow beet red, flustered at where he was touching her. Pitou started to flail in order to get out of his grasp to which Gon had to struggle to keep her in said grasp in order to prevent her fall.

"Waaah! Gon, stop holding my tail!" She cried, trying to swipe his hand off. Killua grew annoyed at her for not knowing the consequences of if Gon let go of her. Though, it was quite surprising to see that she had a tail, and from the looks of it, Leorio and Kurapika were too. As a matter of fact, she did see a little bulge on her butt, though it made him blush seeing as he thought about that.

' _Stupid mind..._ ' He grumbled inwardly before shouting out, "Pitou, you're going to die if he lets go! Stay put, idiot!"

"Yeah!" Leorio added on, "Do you want to die?"

But Pitou kept flailing despite, even if she did hear him. She pouted as she looked sideways towards her albino friend, "I-It's sensitive... A-And it's like he's touching me inappropriately!" It was a good thing that Gon felt the gust of wind right at that point, because Gon let go of both her tail and the web above. But the updraft came, and Pitou was able to luckily grab an egg in the nick of time before it propelled them up.

Everyone safely landed onto the ground, and Pitou couldn't be more relieved. While she was still on the ground, her friends came up to her naturally as they feasted on their own eggs in delight.

"Wow, this is good!" Gon exclaimed in pure satisfaction.

"I concur, it is." Kurapika smiled, "So this is how it's like being a Gourmet Hunter..." Pitou looked at her own egg she had in her hand which was lucky enough to not catch any dirt on it, and was about to take a big bite but Killua snatched it off her.

"Nuh-uh..." Killua denied, "What exactly are you?" He narrowed his eyes. Pitou gulped, noticing that her ears had gone free too which alerted everyone's attention.

"Ah, I see!" Gon piped up "Pitou's a cat girl!" He innocently concluded, eliciting a chuckle out of Killua and Kurapika. Though, as expected, Leorio believed that too.

He widened his eyes, "No way, she is?!"

"N-No!" She said finally, "I-I mean, yes!" Pitou replied, settling for that to be a better answer than revealing herself to be the unknown species, the Chimera Ants.

"I've always knew there was something wrong with you..." Killua started to explain, "Earlier, while we were crossing the wetlands, I did get to see a little bulge on the back of your shorts and I did wonder what was-"

Pitou grew flustered quickly, "Y-You were peeking!" She started to shake out of sheer embarrassment, and Killua tried to explain himself while flailing his arms in denial of doing anything perverted, though it didn't stop him from getting a slap from Pitou. "Pervert, nya!"

"Now I understand!" Gon grinned, "You say 'nya' because you're a cat girl! It's very cute." He laughed, and Pitou blushed at that though she chuckled herself.

Killua shook his head, "Oi, don't laugh! You need to answer our questions first."

"Calm down, Killua." Kurapika advised, "We can get answers at the airship. Look, everyone's leaving." He pointed towards the airship to where everyone was retreating to.

Killua gave one last mean glance towards Pitou, though she stuck her tongue out as a retort, but this time it seemed cuter with the addition of cat ears and tail. A red tint covered his cheeks while he stomped off angrily, "Tsk, stupid cat girl calling me a pervert and that..." He complained.

Gon looked towards Pitou, "Ne, why didn't you tell us before?" He queried. She scratched her cheek, not knowing how to answer,

"Well... Perhaps I thought I wouldn't get accepted, nya. Though it seemed pointless regardless."

He pointed towards her, "Oh! You did it again!" He said, referring to her excessive usage of the word 'nya'.

Pitou chuckled once more. "C'mon, let's go and explore the airship!"

* * *

 **Sorry this took so long! I wasn't impressed seeing the first draft of this chapter I concocted as it really sucked in my opinion. It took a while to make the revisions, though fret not as it's finally here! Not a lot of fluff as I'd like, but Phase Two didn't really allow for much. Hopefully I'll be able to redeem myself next chapter! Au revoir!**

 **-SFR5**


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